This is a hard one for me, but it would be any of the Shadow Heart Series, i really loved the battle system, you actually had to have really good timing for the judgment ring, and also evolving and collecting every of's yuri's souls was time consuming and very challenging, especially Seraphic Radiance in the first Shadow Hearts, since you had to fight Amon first, all one on one, those were some of the hardest boss battles i've played in a RPG.
Also collecting every ultimate weapon was fun and the global story was very enthralling

I would have to say Shadow Hearts: Covenant is my favorite PS2 RPG. I've played a ton of PS2 RPGs (Xenosaga, FF, dot Hack, Shadow Hearts, Summoner, Atelier Iris, Wild Arms), but Covenant just edges out FF X for me.

Then again, I have not yet played Suikoden III, and I hear its pretty dang good.

Another fellow Shadow Hearts fan =) Yeah i'm totally with you, i think shadow hearts (i like the first one better ;) ) edges over FF X.
Suikoden III is extremely good, but the first one is just a tad better =)

i liked the shadow hearts series, but i didnt like the 3rd one that one sorta sucked. overall a good series, hopefully a new one is being made.

I haven't played the 3rd one yet, Shadow Hearts: A New World didn't come out in Europe and i couldn't import it at that time (finantial troubles :/) and my modded ps2 is broken, so i have a few chances to play it now. Maybe one day, when ps2 emulation is good enough, i most definetly give it a shot :)

Shadow Hearts went down with Yuri.

I can see this thread becoming a favorite of mine, this is by far the greatest genre in video games and I always felt gives you the best bang for your buck.

I would sit here and list my RPG's for you all but I have quite a few, many still missing in my games list, but I am very certain almost anyone in this thread can find something we could agree on.

@euphoria14 thanks for joing the thread, nice to meet another rpg fan. :) u are right about the series going down hill after yuri wasnt the main character anymore. i think the timing in shadow hearts ia great, its closet competition is legend of dragoon, i think anyways.

i also liked final fantasy 10-2, because i wanted to continue the story of tidus and yuna.

I remember borrowing Legend of Dragoon from a friend back in Highschool and thinking it was awesome.

I loved the setting for Shadow Hearts, early 1900's. Something about it just had me hooked. It just felt different from everything else I was playing. Once Yuri left however, I just lost interest. I never even played the one following "Covenant".

thanks for pointing that one out robotechheaven, i thought i was the only one who liked FFX-2 :/ So many hate towards that game, and yet i think it was very well done, i loved the chapter-mission based structure of the game, the dresspheres were a cool addition, and it was a good return to the good old ATB bar. Also it gaves us a nice conclusion to tidus and yuna story, which is one of the most romantic ever in a final fantasy (But no one comes close to Squall and Rinoa... that scene on Ragnarok brings a tear to my eye everyime :D)